With the battle of the great well successfully completed, our heroes invite Yagra to join their number. They are much impressed with her strength and bravery in the face of both the troll and the thugs. She is pleased to agree.
Volo is very complementary of our heroes. Now assured that they are indeed the right team to find his friend Floom, he provides them with a witness who was present the very night when Floom was last seen. Volo introduces the group to Raener Neverember, who arrives at their table dressed in expensive silks and satins. Blowing the scarlet feather that arches from his hat out of his eyes, Raener takes a seat to tell our brave adventurers his tale of the night Floom disappeared.
It seems that two nights previous, Floom and Raener spent an evening at an unsavory tavern, the Skewered Dragon, in the Dock Ward. After too many milkshakes, Raener’s luck with the dice had deserted him, and Floom had won all his coin as well as his second best cap. “The one with the marvelous purple feather. In truth, it looked far better on Floom,” the young man confesses.
Dramatis Personae
Obsidian (Jase)
Lexomel (Rex)
Jakama (Rowan)
Galadin (Andrew)
Fenmyar (Freddie)
Calista (Reni)
Raener finally realized it was time to get home. Wobbling, the friends set out on the long walk back to the north side of Waterdeep. They hadn’t yet left the sketchy Dock Ward when several thuggish individuals stepped out in front of them from an especially nasty smelling alley. The largest of the villains demanded with menace: “Which of you is Raener Neverember?”
By now Raener, too frightened to speak, said nothing and merely plucks at Floom’s arm, anxious to be gone. Floom, foolish with courage from too many milkshakes, took umbrage with the ruffians. His angry response rang out into the night: “What want you with Raenar Neverember?” Realizing his friend was trying to protect him and wishing to avoid a conflict, Raener tugged on Floom’s arm to hurry him away. But Floom stood firm.
The smallest of the thugs stepped forward and addressed the pair of friends. “Our Black Network has need of much gold. We were told that Raener would be wearing a purple feather tonight.” The thug’s eyes glitter evilly in the darkness as he gestures to Floom, who indeed had Raener’s cap atop his head. As the man points, Raener spots a distinctive pin closing the man’s cloak. Next he turned his attention to the real
Raener: “Tell his daddy, the former Overlord Dagult Neverember, that if he wants his boy back, he’ll need to pay the Zhentarim 2,000 Dragons!” (Recall: In Waterdeep, it is the custom to call gold pieces “dragons.”)
Shadows loom from the alley, and a sharp blow closes Raener’s eyes until dawn. When he is next conscious, Floom and the thugs are gone. Raener realizes Floom has been mistaken for himself! Yikes!
Tearily, Raener reports that a ransom note came to his father, who took it as a poor joke. “Even if I could explain to my father what I was doing in the Dock Ward, he won’t pay a copper piece for poor Floom. And where will I get that kind of gold? When the Zhents discover Floom isn’t me, I’m afraid of what they’ll do to him! The Black Network is ruthless! Can you help?”
The brave heroes, along with new friend Yagra, agree to assist. Yagra offers to guide them to the Dock Ward. On the way, the group spots the city guard arresting several individuals with curious tattoos, and one guard shares that they are arresting rowdy members of the Xanathar Guild, who, reportedly,have been robbing the local citizenry. His captain demands he hush, and encourages the party to move along.
Yagra stops in front of a small shop, her eyes alight: “Before we go on, you really should see this place! If we aren’t long, I suppose Floom can wait.” She stands before a periwinkle building whose half-open door is painted bright purple. Through it and around the friends’ ankles, tendrils of lavender and violet scented smoke curl out into the street. In the storefront’s enormous picture window, an equally enormous stuffed beholder dangles on a thick chain, twirling very slowly behind the decorative lettering “Ye Old Xoblob Shop.” Pale mauve illumination glows from within. Curious, the friends enter.
A wizened gnome in magenta silk sits cross-legged atop a tufty stool of deepest purple velvet. He peers at them over half-moon spectacles, and his face breaks into a grin.
“Dandalus Rench,” he says, “proprietor of this amazing establishment.” Amazing it certainly is. Stuffed from floor to ceiling with boxes and bags, sacks and barrels, crates and shelves, every visible item is one shade or another of purple. Violet, plum, lavender, wine, amethyst, lilac, mulberry, pomegranate. Every. Single. Object. “As you can see,” Dandalus tells them, “my stock is based upon entirely upon color rather than function. I find it easier this way to decide what to carry. You may certainly look around. Most everything is for sale. For a price.” Daedalus extends a hand to Obsidian, who regards it suspiciously and does not return this gesture.
Quickly, Callista smooths over this uncomfortable moment by asking if any of the objects in the shop are magical. “Of course!” says Dandalus, “but I forget which ones!” Cleverly, Calista casts Detect Magic to identify items he wishes to purchase. He settles on an Unenlightener, which snatches the illumination from lamps, torches and candles. He also purchases a prism that projects a beam of palest purple light.
Calista offers to play Rock, Paper, Scissors with the others to help winners know which items are magical. Galadin wins when his rock bests Calista’s scissors, but decides to take his time watching the others shop. Next Calista’s paper covers Jakama’s rock, but he nonetheless chooses two objects which both turn out to be magical. The first item Jakama selects unfolds into a square of deep purple lace. Danadlus gets very excited: “One of my favorite objects!! When draped across the face and over the top of the head, it allows the wearer to hide in shadows!” Jakama rejects this and instead opts for a tiny wine-colored cruet. When uncorked, a gallon of random oil pours forth. Sometime it’s olive oil, sometimes lamp oil, sometimes hair oil. “A great deterrent if you are being chased,” notes Jakama, his eyes twinkling, not caring which type of oil he trips pursuers with.
At Dandalus’ suggestion, Obsidian plucks up what looks like a wrinkled grape. He sets it upon the purple planked floor and it immediately inflates into a pony-sized scorpion. Dandalus herds the creature out of the shop. Obsidian rejects this for an enchanted purple peppermill. With each turn of the handle, the magical grains cause ferocious sneezing in anyone within the radius of effect. Obsidian tests this. Once the sniffling ends, Dandalus is happy to take Obsidian’s gold.
Winning his game against Calista, Fenmyar’s chooses a dagger with a wine colored grip. Daedalus tells him that with each successful strike of this blade, a surge of Wild Magic occurs. Dandalus also warns him about the risks of Wild Magic: not all surges will be helpful, and that’s what makes them so very wild. Fenmyar gleefully pays for the item and adds the new magic dagger to his belt. This will most certainly make combat more interesting.
Thoughtfully, Lexomel plucks up a tiny bluish-red bell which appears to be missing its clapper. “Ahh,” says Dandalus, “you’ve found the Opening Bell. Few ordinary door locks can stay firm against this object.” He allows Lexomel to experiment by locking him outside Ye Old Xoblob Shoppe and allowing him to use the bell, with a single shake, to open the purple door. Remarkable!
Galadin, in the meanwhile, has decided that he will indeed purchase the Shadow Lace that Jakama decided he did not want. He tucks it away carefully in his pocket, sure it will be useful.
Thus equipped, the friends set off into the night to find out what happened to Floom.
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